


Other Places, Other Faces

by ilovemarveltoo_xx25



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Drunk Tony Stark, F/M, Pepper Potts & Tony Stark Friendship, Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:15:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23687515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilovemarveltoo_xx25/pseuds/ilovemarveltoo_xx25
Summary: Placed a year before Iron Man 1. Tony Stark is going to rehab. After nearly raping his PA and friend, Virginia 'Pepper" Potts, he needs it. Not only for that either, he has problems with drugs, is an alcoholic, has sex way too often, and a lot more problems. He's going to be spending 6 months at a rehab facility up in Minnesota(Yes I'm sending a southern to Minnesota, literal winter wonderland. I live in this cool, haha get it, state.) While he's there he makes a friend that might just surprise him.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark





	Other Places, Other Faces

**Author's Note:**

> This is all for later in the story, Bold test is Rhodey, Italic is Tony. I'm also using the song Gone, Gone, Gone, by Phillip Phillips in this story. THE SONG IS NOT MINE. Enjoy!

Tony gaped at Obadiah, "SIX MONTHS? AT A REHAB FACILITY IN FUCKING MINNESOTA!?" Tony asked loudly and disbelievingly,

"Yes Tony, we figured it might be good if you tried to get help." Obie answered, reaching out to lay a hand on the younger man's shoulder.

"We? Who's we!?" He asked somewhat angrily, Obadiah stared pointedly behind him and Tony whirled around. Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy stood there watching him with sympathetic gazes, well, more Rhodey and Happy then Pepper. She just looked relieved, Tony felt hurt stab at his heart and he stared at them for a minute, his brown eyes flickering from Obadiah to his three friends.

"Oh great now everybody I'm close to is going behind my back to talk about me. How. LOVELY." He spat the last part.

"Tones, you need it. You have bad problems." Rhodey said quietly, Tony whipped towards him, anger and hurt in his every move, but he deflated, anger flowing out of him.

"Why didn't anyone tell me or warn me or even just involve me in the conversation?" Tony asked softly,

"Because we didn't want you to react like that." Happy murmured,

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. But why Minnesota? That's far as hell and it's cold as shit. Especially while it's winter, and it's winter." The genius remarked dryly,

"We did a lot of research and it has rehab that's ranked the best rehab facility in America. According to people that have been there or have friends or family that have been there, they say that they come back better people." Pepper finally spoke up in a small voice

Tony turned his gaze on her, she blinked, a small bit of fear in her eyes and scooted a tiny bit backwards. Tony flinched violently, pain and guilt rushing through him.

"I'll go. When do I leave?" Tony finally said, tearing his eyes from Pepper. Rhodey stared at him a moment before answering,

"Your flight is this Friday at 7:30 p.m."

Tony heaved a huge sigh, "Three days." He muttered, leaving the room to process this.

"Is this really the right thing to do?" Rhodey murmured questioningly as he watched the retreating form of his best friend.

"I think so."

━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━

Tony stood next to Rhodey, staring at his private jet taking deep breaths. He was really doing this. He turned to face his friend

"Rhodey-"

Rhodey pulled him into a hug, "I know buddy. You got this." He murmured in his ear. Tony stepped away and started walking determinedly towards the jet,

"Good luck kid." Obadiah whispered, patting his back, Tony bit his lip and nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"See you in six months.." He called with a half hearted smile. Happy, Rhodey, Obadiah, and Pepper all waved and he stepped inside. Tony sat down with a sigh and stared out the window as the jet started moving,

"The flight will be 3 hours and 25 minutes long, estimated arrival time, 9:30 p.m. northwest time." Jarvis announced, another pang struck Tony.

"J, I'm going to miss you." He murmured.

"No need. I've already set my systems to automatically connect to your room when you get there. I've also installed myself into all your watches, your phone, laptop, and headphones." The AI listed and Tony snorted,

"Why am I not surprised. Don't know what I would do without you Jarvis." He said with a smile.

"Neither do I Sir." He said sarcastically, Tony chuckled,

Tony turned back to the window where the sun was setting and oranges, pinks, yellows, and reds stained the sky. 

━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━

Finally snow appeared on the ground and Jarvis announced that they were in Minneapolis. Tony had to admit the Twin Cities were impressive, he had never been to Minnesota before despite his many travels. It was basically a miniature New York City. There was a lot of purple and yellow everywhere, ah, right, Vikings. The jet landed and he stood up with a stretch and a yawn. The door opened and he felt the chill of air even from the middle of the plane, he grabbed his jacket and slipped it on, then walked towards the door. Tony thanked the pilot and stepped outside, cold air blasted him in the face and the cold breeze toyed with his hair. "Holy shit it's cold." He whispered to himself, hunching his shoulders and stepping down the stairs, a marshaller was waiting for him. 

"Mr. Stark, I'm here to take you to a more private part of the airport so you don't get too noticed." The young man said, Tony nodded.

"Thanks."

He climbed on and it was about a five minute ride to where the marshaller was taking him. Tony hopped off and nodded to the other

"Thank you."

"Yeah, you betcha."

Tony blinked and then smiled, walking into the entrance. There was a few groups of people standing around, as he passed they looked up and offered respectful smiles but left him alone. He huffed in surprise, Minnesotans were nicer then given credit for, he noted. Finally he reached his car and ducked in, turning it on and starting the drive to Duluth where the facility is.

Roughly two and a half hours later he arrived in Duluth, Tony took a minute to look at Lake Superior, it was massive. Pretty too. The moonlight reflected off of the still black water and made the ice look like liquid silver. Northern Minnesota was thickly forested with pines, evergreens, spruces, oaks, you name it. Tony sighed and started driving towards the facility again, or his home for the next six months. When he got there it wasn't at all what he had expected, it was a large building, almost like a hotel. The outside was made of logs and the whole area was surrounded by forest except for a opening to his right to show the lake. The only reason Tony knew it was the rehab center is because it had a sign near the door that stated in big bold letters ' **Northwood Rehabilitation Center"** Tony took a deep breath, parked his car and stepped inside.

Inside was even more surprising, the ceiling arched high above his head and had wooden beams across, the main lobby, room, whatever you wanted to call it was very open and had a fireplace in the middle of the room, heating the area. There were a few people sitting around, talking and laughing quietly, some were reading, others were watching TV. It was so casual that Tony almost forgot where he was, instead he shook his head and walked over to a woman sitting behind a desk. Upon his arrival she looked up from whatever she was doing, she smiled and stood up,

"Mr. Stark, hope your trip here was okay." She greeted him and he blinked a few times before taking the hand she'd extended,

"It was good, thanks. Tony is fine too." He added at the end. She nodded,

"Alright, well Tony, your room will be down the hall to your left then one level above this one. 4th door on the right." She informed him handing him a key.

"Oh, thanks. so uh..what do I do..here?" He asked, she chuckled lightly

"Here, you have groups that you meet with every day varying between morning, afternoon, and evening. You talk about your issues with your group leaders and other members, offer advice and support for each other. There is also therapy that you attend to, you are free to do whatever you what. If you want to go out and eat something, go eat something, if you want to go for a walk go for a walk. Our only rule is that you have to tell a staff member where you're going if you ever do go out. Interact with other people, make friends, we try to make it feel as much like home as we can here." The woman said and Tony memorized it all. 

"Wow. So basically school for adults about how to make yourself a better person." He remarked. The lady smiled and shook her head

"Kind of. The thing is it's not only adults here. Our oldest is 62 and our youngest is 12." She murmured, Tony's jaw dropped

"12!? You have a kid here that's 12?" He asked, shocked

"Yes. She's actually in your group."

"Oh wow. Okay. Well. Thank you." Tony murmured quietly, edging off and into the hall. He stopped outside his room's door and inserted the key, opening it and stepping inside. It was actually quite large, there was a small kitchen and living area and when he explored further he found a queen sized bed with a walk in closet and bathroom. The bathroom had a shower and sink with a toilet off to the side. Tony stepped back out dropped his bags and stuff and collapsed on the bed with a tired groan, a familiar sound could be heard and sure enough Jarvis's voice came on clearly but quietly,

"Hello Sir." 

"Mmmm, hey J."

"Sir, Colonel Rhodes is calling shall I answer?"

"Sure, send him through."

Soon Rhodey's voice entered the room and a medium sized holographic screen popped up. Tony sat up and waved at his friend,

"Hey."

"You sound tired. How was your flight?"

"Mmph, long."

"Not surprising. How cold is it?"

"Holy shit Rhodey. It's almost as cold as Obie's look when I pulled that prank on him when I was like 25." Tony muttered and Rhodey snorted

"Damn."

"Yeah."

"So Jarvis's there huh?"

"Mmhm."

"Tony? Something wrong?"

"No."

"Tony..."

"Rhodey..."

"Tony!"

" _What!"_

"Is something wrong?"

"No."

"Tony."

"Rhodey."

"Stark..."

"Rhodes..."

Rhodey glared at him onscreen and he sighed in defeat

"It's just that everyone seems like they're normal and they have a place here, and I'm just HERE. I'm Tony Stark, I have a reputation that I can't change. I'm a playboy, alcoholic, drug addict, fucking weapons manufacturer, I can't just shrug that off and become normal. It's not like these Minnesotans or people care, they haven't even spoken to me. There's no media or paparazzi, it's WEIRD and DIFFERENT Rhodey." He stopped speaking and let out a loud groan, thumping against the bed. Rhodey was quiet for a minute then looked thoughtfully at him.

"Let's sing, I'll play my drums you play guitar if they have one."

Tony's jaw dropped in shock, he hadn't played since his parents died and he certainly hadn't sung for a long time.

"You're kidding."

"Nope."

"Fine."

"The usual?"

"If you're thinking Phillip Phillips and it's that one song we both love that's not rock then yes."

"Right. That Gone, Gone, Gone one right?"

"Yeah! That's the one."

Tony smiled softly as he searched around, surprisingly there was a guitar sitting in the corner and he grabbed it. Tony felt it's weight and the smooth wood and memories assaulted him. He sat down on the edge of the bed, mumbling notes and lyrics under his breath as he picked at the strings to get the feel of it. He heard a slight tap of a drum and smiled when he saw Rhodey sitting behind his drums. "This feels...weird." Rhodey muttered, tapping a few drums and getting the notes. 

"Yeah but it feels so right too."

"True."

"You ready?"

"Yep."

"Every other verse?"

"Sure."

"Alright, 3, 2, 1."

Tony strummed at the instrument for a few notes and then started singing.

_"When life leaves you high and dry I'll be at your door tonight if you need help, if you need help. I'll shut down the city lights, I'll lie, cheat, I'll beg and bribe to make you well, to make you well."_

Tony smiled as he finished his turn and Rhodey started his'

_"_ **_When enemies are at your door I'll carry you away from war if you need help, if you need help. Your hope dangling by a string I'll share in your suffering to make you well, to make you well_."**

Rhodey smiled at him through the screen then gave a small gesture, "I forgot how good you are at singing. Take the course buddy." He offered and Tony grinned

_"Give me reasons to believe..that you would do the same for me...and I would do it for you, for you...! Baby, I'm not moving on I'll love you long after you're gone!"_

Tony added a slight rasp to his voice and closed his eyes, bobbing his head contentedly to Rhodey's drums and his guitar.

_"For you, for you...you will never sleep alone. I'll love you long after you're gone, yeah long after you're gone, gone, gone,"_

Rhodey's turn again

_" **When you fall like a statue I'm gonna be there to catch you. Put you on your feet, you on your feet, and if your well is empty not a thing will prevent me. Tell me what you need, what do you need?** "_

_"I surrender honestly. You've always done the same for me...so I would do it for you, for you. Baby I'm not moving on, I'll love you long after you're gone. For you, for you...you will never sleep alone. I'll love you long after you're gone, and long after you're gone, gone gone,"_

**_"You're my backbone. You're my cornerstone. You're my crutch when my legs stop moving. You're my head start, yeah, my rugged heart. You're the pulse that I've always needed."_ **

_"Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating. Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating. Like a drum baby don't stop beating. Like a drum my heart never stops beating...for you, for you! Baby I'm not moving on, I'll love you long after you're gone. For you..for you.."_

**_"You will never sleep alone. I'll love you long after you're_ ** _**gone. For you..for you..."**_

_"Baby, I'm not moving on. I'll love you long after you're gone!"_

**_"For you...for you..."_ **

_"You will never sleep alone! I'll love you long, long after you're gone._

**_"Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating. Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating. Like a drum, baby, don't stop beating."_ **

_"Like a drum, my heart never stops beating for you, and long after you're gone, gone, gone. I'll love you long after you're gone, gone, gone..."_

Tony fell silent, panting slightly. Rhodey too, was silent. When Tony looked up his friend was gawking at him, 

"What's your problem?" Tony huffed, picking softly at the guitar strings and playing a quiet tune that he knows how to play but doesn't remember learning. 

"Your. Voice." Is all he said

"What about it?"

"Tones. I didn't know you could fucking sing that well."

Tony felt heat creep up his neck and into his face and he just shrugged, hiding his face by looking down at the floor.

"Thanks."

"Yeah, well. We both should probably get some sleep."

"I agree. Goodnight Rhodey."

"Goodnight Tones."

With that the called ended. Tony stood up and dug through his bags until he found a pair of sweatpants and stepped into them, slipping out of his shirt and tossing it to the side. He debated brushing his teeth and washing his face but decided against it, he was too tired. He slid under the covers, missing his home more then he thought he would. "Jarvis?"

"Yes?"

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight sir, sleep well."

and with that Tony fell asleep. 

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you liked this. There will be more of Tony exploring the rehab center in the next chapter but I just really felt like Tony and Rhodey being bros. I'll try to post the next chapter sometime tomorrow or even later tonight. Leave comments! <3


End file.
